About the Book
The essential guide to growing house plants.From the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this book introduces the 70 best house plants to grow at home and teaches you how to cultivate each one. With 12 easy and inspiring projects and beautiful botanical illustrations, this is part of the best-selling series of Kew Gardeners Guides, now available in paperback.
Are your house plants forlorn? Do they need more knowledgeable attention? With the help of experts from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, discover which plants are delicate and which indestructible, whether these are cacti, succulents, air plants or those famous for their flowers, foliage, fragrance and even air-freshening powers.Learn how to nurture your house plants and cultivate an oasis of calm using the advice and projects in this pretty guide to 70 of the best. Here you'll find plants for all tastes, all rooms, cold and warm temperatures, all light levels and every skill set. Find the right home for your plants and the right plants for your home.This beautifully illustrated guide mixes authoritative plant profiles with exquisite botanical prints and12 step-by-step photographed projects that show how to create and display the trendiest and lushest arrangements today. Kew expert Kay Maguire goes back to the basics of choosing, potting, feeding and care, then looks further at pruning and propagating in order to make more plants.This is the perfect book for new or experienced indoor gardeners wanting to improve their outlook, freshen their air and cultivate a little bit of calm. It is filled with invaluable tips, tricks and handy advice to help your plants thrive.This book is from the Kew Experts series, in which the top gardeners and botanical scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew offer up advice and information as well as suggesting handy projects on a range of gardening topics. Other titles available: Guide to Growing Herbs, Guide to Growing Bulbs, Guide to Growing Fruit, Guide to Growing Orchids, Guide to Growing Vegetables, Guide to Growing Roses, Guide to Growing Trees, Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents, Guide to Growing Perennials, Guide to Growing Shrubs, Guide to Growing Alpines.
Table of Contents:
Contents INTRODUCTION to the book: Why have houseplants (good for mental health, phsychologically, for beauty, health, clean air. Finding a plant for your home and finding a home for your plant, using the book to ensure success. DISPLAY, staging, modern use: solo, sequence, habitat, negative space, feature, vertical, stands, hanging, privacy. Considering shape, texture, form, size, scale. WHAT can we grow and WHERE: What are houseplants? EIGHT GROUPS. Where they come from, how to look after them, the rooms where you can display them. Native habitat dictates our care. Eight groups are: Ferns; Palms; Cactus; Succulents; Bromeliads including Air plants; Flowering house plants (possibly shorter or longer); Foliage; Carnivorous. HOW TO GROW in general: consider situation, right plant right place, temperature, light, humidity including: Kit and bit on containers to grow them in. This practical section includes the key care points: watering; heating; choosing compost; changing humidity; feeding; repotting; cleaning; holiday care. MAKING MORE PLANTS Propagating in five ways: leaf cuttings using begonia or sanseveria; bulbil babies using sedum; division of palm roots; suckers/offshoots and runners using chlorophytum; adventitious roots using hoya HOUSE PLANT PORTRAITS PROJECTS 12 projects including Kokedama; Plant leaf in a clear glass frame; A series of Sanseveria pots on a windowsill for privacy; Cactus grafting for impressive results; Macrame hanging planter; Air plant mobile; Desert Plant stand; Tray of succulents with strong pattern and landscape feel; Air fresheners collection; Touch me, touch me not. PROBLEMS: trouble shooting, preventative and curative endmatter (index and acknowledgments)
About the Author :
Kay Maguire trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and has been writing and making films about gardening and wildlife ever since. She writes for magazines and websites and is the author of the award-winning RHS How to Grow Your Own Crops in Pots. She is lucky enough to live in one of London's amazing Royal Parks, where she loves growing her own food, cycling and walking the dog with her kids. Jason Ingram is a Bristol based Photographer specialising in Gardens, Food, People and Interiors.
